Some things are more difficult as one ages. The thing that is always there but seldom talked about is how much closer it is until curtain time. One day, not so long ago, I realized that I had more dead friends than live ones.

I sometimes miss my friends but I am not aware of fearing death. I long ago dropped any fear of punishment for my sins beyond their natural outcomes on Planet Earth. I do believe that some sort of consciousness continues after the Spirit leaves the body. I believe this, at least partly, because of my dead friends.

The fascinating thing about my departed friends is that they are still part of my life. Hardly a night goes by that I don’t have a conversation or visit from one or the other in my dreams. The dreams are always pleasant visits and sometimes I get simple messages.

Do I believe in ghosts? Yes, I believe that a spiritual energy of Love continues to operate in loving ways that could be perceived as ghostly – but not scary. For years, I have said in Memorial services, “Love never dies” and I believe that is true.

Whether you believe in life after death or ghostly energy or reincarnation – or all of the above – is not important. What is important is that you know your choice to express love is important long after you are gone from your body. Lives that express love, famous or not, lighten and brighten the world.

Feeling love makes us happy. The more love we circulate, the happier we are. Those are simple truths to grasp and live as deeply as possible. The choice to love or fear is a common choice for all of us. Choose love whenever you can.

If you are reading this, chances are great that you are part of a human chain of love. You are bound to others who seek, express and enjoy love through the law of attraction. Some of you may feel the need for more love.

The answer to attracting more love into your life is to express what you already have learned more consistently. Be a major link in your chain of love heritage. You learned to love when you were younger from someone who learned when he or she was younger. A chain of love is eternal.

Love passes from one human to another. It is the most beautiful contagion we have. You are a result of the love you have chosen and are now choosing in your life. You have received and chosen love. You are now passing that love on to others. So love never dies.

Isn’t it wonderful that we don’t ever have to reinvent love? It is always waiting, in smiling repose for us to discover, enjoy, use and pass along to others. That phrase, in smiling repose is a quote from my friend, RW Emerson who visits me in books. His love continues through me and countless other Transcendentalists.

I start teaching the Emerson class next week and he is much on my mind but he has been on my mind in some manner since I first encountered his blessed words in college in the 1960’s.

A writer and philosopher like Emerson is direct and absolute proof that love never dies. He has impacted American thinking since his beginning essay, Nature, was published in 1836. He was a direct influence on my loving mentor, Ernest Holmes, who read him constantly as a young man. New Thought, in general, is an outgrowth of Emersonian Mind and Emersonian Love.

Emerson was a great philosopher who wrote abstract ideas. Everywhere he looked, he saw the OverSoul. I am much more apt to find love particularized in communion with loved ones. The beauty of love is that it can be abstract or personal, but it is always the same love.

God is love and the desire to give and receive love is embedded in the original equipment of being human. Love is present in all of us and our task is to reveal it as we travel along life’s journey. It is not a race to be won nor is it a journey to be lost. It is what life is all about at a deep, spiritual level.

We don’t invent love and we can’t hoard it. We simply reveal love to each other, exchanging it without a thought of using it to get a return on our expenditure. Anyone who attempts to use love to get something back is going to be disappointed.

I know about that particular form of disappointment. I didn’t realize it at the time but my love that was used to manipulate was counterfeit in the sense that I attempted to use it as a commodity. Love must be freely given to be real.

Another lesson I’ve learned is that love does not mean that you must let the other person walk all over you. If you want to be loving, you must model self-love and set boundaries.

What do you love right now in your life? Please share you comments on this blog.

Right now, I am loving to be writing this blog. I am loving to have so many wonderful people in my life. I also love that I’ve let go of most ambition and most attachment to material stuff. I’ve definitely learned that cherries require spitting pits out and life is not about bowls full of them but about the free flowing exchange of Love.

I love the healing power of love! I love being able to do the ordinary, daily, things for myself and doing small deeds of kindness for others. I never wanted to be a “big cheese”, wowing the crowd for all to see but i like helping people quietly on a one-to-one basis and not with thought of reward.
As you said, love isn’t always a bowl of cherries. Once in a while people who want and accept help really may be using you. Just smile and know inwardly that your intentions were good and they may have a bigger problem that your assistance was not able to help.
I love knowing that, “It’s all God. It’s all good. All the time – all the time” regardless of appearances of the moment.

I love that I am alive. That someone, was at the right place at the right time to bring me back to life.
I love that even though we don’t see our friends for years, we can catch up like it we last saw each other yesterday.
I love the winter! As much as I hate the cold, I love that another season is here and everything around is changing to adapt to the season.
I love that you are here to share this blog with us.

Hi Karin,
Thanks for sharing the things you love. It makes me feel good to know this blog is on your list. I love being connected to and getting to know new friends. I think it is a great thing to live where there are seasons because it keeps us grateful when summer comes. Here in San Diego county, we tend to complain if the day is gray until 10 AM. While I’m glad to be living in the land of eternal summer, it does make us a bit less actively grateful and gratitude is the best spiritual practice I know. Love, Jane